Corvallis, OR (CSTV U-WIRE) -- Oregon State freshman Tasha Smith has wanted to show people all season what she is capable of, but injuries caused her to be sidelined off-and-on throughout the second half of the gymnastics season.

She finally got her chance at the Pac-10 gymnastics championships March 25 at Gill Coliseum, winning two individual conference titles on the vault (9.925) and the floor exercise (9.950).

"It was really exciting because the whole year I have been hurt," Smith said. "Every time I came back, I got hurt again, so I wanted to show people what I can do and that I can keep up with everybody else, but every time I tried to, I got hurt, so I never got the chance. But tonight I finally got the chance to show people I can keep up with the Olympians and all the really big names out there and I think I added my name to that list."

Smith's conference titles were not enough to elevate the No. 16 Oregon State gymnastics team to the Pac-10 title, as it fell short scoring a 196.400. No. 8 Stanford, who took the Pac-10 title at 197.100, was followed by No. 9 UCLA at 196.800. OSU finished third.

"I'm really proud of our girls," said OSU head coach Tanya Chaplin. "I think we can learn some things from this competition. There are some things we want to solidify going into regionals, but they did an awesome job during some intense competition."

En route to finishing third, the Beavers scored their highest mark of the season on the uneven bars (49.025) and had second-best scores on both the vault (49.225) and floor exercise (49.175). The only event that gave the Beavers trouble was the balance beam, where they scored a 48.815.

The Beavers (20-9) were in position to win from the start with Stanford in second place behind OSU after two events. But the Cardinal scored a 49.500 on the beam and after third rotation the Cardinal took the lead over Beavers by .400. It was the seventh and final rotation when Stanford put the meet in the record books, scoring a 49.275 on the floor exercise to take the conference title.

"UCLA and Stanford are two incredibly strong teams," Chaplin said. "We were right there with them until the end, so I'm really proud of our performance."

Smith became the first OSU gymnast in seven years to earn two Pac-10 titles in the same season (Megan Murphy-Barcroft 1999).

OSU freshman Jami Lanz was named Pac-10 Co-Freshman of the Year after the event, along with UCLA's Ariana Berlin. Lanz becomes the second OSU gymnast to earn Freshman of the Year honors.

"Her Freshman of the Year award is very well deserved," Chaplin said. "She has competed every single meet in the all-around for us and every routine she has done up until now has counted for us, so she's done a phenomenal job all year."

Lanz kept her outstanding inaugural season going, scoring a career second best in the all-around at 39.350, which was good enough for sixth in the conference. Lanz scored 9.8 or higher on all four rotations: T5 on floor (9.875), T8 on vault (9.85), T7 on bars (9.825) and T20 on beam (9.8).

OSU senior Chrissy Lamun had a solid final Pac-10 championship, scoring 9.9 on bars, which tied for second in the conference.

However, the night's star performer was Stanford sophomore Tabitha Yim, who won the all-around title at 39.650, the balance beam title (9.975) and placed second on the floor exercise (9.925).

Fellow Cardinal sophomore Liz Tricase, who is ranked No. 1 in the nation on the uneven bars, took the top spot on the bars with 9.925. She also placed second on the vault (9.90) and took home third on the floor exercise (9.90).

UCLA senior and Canadian Olympian Kate Richardson also had a good night, placing second in the all-around with a 39.550. Richardson also went on to tie for second on the balance beam and tie for third on the floor.

Up next for the Beavers is the NCAA West Regional Championship at Stanford, April 8 at 6 p.m., in Maples Pavilion. OSU is the third seed and will go up against top-seed No. 5 Alabama and the second-seed host Stanford. Also, competing is Boise State, Sacramento State and San Jose State.

The top two teams from each of the regional advance to the NCAA championships April 20-22 at Gill Coliseum. The individual event winners at each regional will advance to the national championships as well (in that event only) if the gymnast is not part of a qualifying team or an all-around qualifier.

"I think when we get to regionals the competition is going to be just like this (Pac-10 championship)," Lamun said. "Stanford and UCLA are amazing teams and to have them out on the competition floor at the same time and just all three of us chasing after each other, will be just like regionals.

"I think this was a great prep for regionals," Lamun added. "You learn things from every meet and you keep going."

(C) 2006 OSU Daily Barometer via CSTV U-WIRE